As requested...

Hello Kat! Here's the link you requested: http://www.elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/. I took a spiritual gifts test that's a bit different, but the results are generally the same. In this online test, I scored highest sa teaching (85), next highest sa helper (73) , then exhorter (68). Lowest ako sa evangelist (37).

I guess the gift for evangelism is for nats: I'll just "help" him out when he decides to be a doctor to the mountains and be a missionary, hehehe. In the first test naman that I took (not online, though... I filled up a questionnaire) I scored highest sa teaching (12), and exhorting (11). Dito siguro talaga ako sa vocation na to dapat mapadpad. Ang tanong na lang eh, tinuturo ko na ba ang dapat kong tinuturo? Am I teaching what I am destined to teach? Hmmm... now that's a good question to find out the answers to next year, don't you think?

Everyone! Take this test too, and share with me your results, ha!

"I can feel the sun beating on my face. My feet are covered with the burning sand. My garden of eden has been replaced with the drought that comes with the desert land. No fruit trees and no river bends, you could walk miles and see no signs of life. But I still believe this drought will end even if there are no clouds in sight..."

What I Really Wanna Share

Can't find the video of this song so I'll just share the lyrics... this is called Blue Skies by Point of Grace. No special reason why I want to post this for the world to see except that it has helped me survive the day today. God is really good. :-D

On days of gray when doubt clouds my view,

it’s so hard to see past my fears

My strength seems to fade and it’s all I can do

to hold on ’til the light reappears

Still, I believe though some rain’s bound to fall

that you’re here next to me and you’re over it all.

Lord, the sky’s still blue for my hope is in you,

You’re my joy, You’re the dream that’s still alive

Like the wind at my back and the sun on my face, You are life, You’re grace,

You are blue skies... You’re my blue skies...

When nights are long, seems the dark has no end,

Still we walk on in light of the truth

For waiting beyond where the morning begins

is the dawn, and you’re mercy anew

Oh, to believe we’re alive in your love,

there is so much to see if we keep looking up

Lord, the sky’s still blue for my hope is in you,

You’re my joy, You’re the dream that’s still alive
Like the wind at my back and the sun on my face, You are life, You’re grace,
You are blue skies... You’re my blue skies...

You fill the heavens with hope and a higher love...

A picture, a promise for life

Fooling Around With Possibilities

Congratulate me for these first music files on this blog. Yaaayyy!!!

You have to click on the image/s to start the video though on another site. Apologies for this 2-second extra step, I myself don't like it when music/videos unexpectedly stream up on me when i go to a site. I'm the kind who likes to be "prepared". Hope these upload easily... the first one is from Sting, the second one from Dave Matthews Band. (Sorry churchmates: I can't find a POG or AVALON or ANOINTED video anywhere on the sites that offer video streams for posting. If you find such codes, tell me asap ok? Mwah mwah everyone!) Sorry din these files are NOT video files... they're just music files with some advertisements pa nga. :( No matter... it's all about the music anyway, I always say.

Click here to launch music video

1. WHY SHOULD I CRY?

video code provided by singingfool.com

For the lyrics, click here.

Click here to launch music video

1. THE SPACE BETWEEN

video code provided by singingfool.com

For the lyrics, click here.

Not Another Harry Potter Review!

I know... I know... you've read too many Harry Potter Goblet of Fire reviews already. (Read dessagirl's review here.) Stop with it already, you may be thinking. It's done. It's shown. It's 2 and a half hours long. Let us now move on.

But I can't. Not until I've said my piece. Promise this will be short. Give or take three or four comments and I'll shut up. Move on with my life... that is, until the next time I see this movie again (hopefully with Ate Abbie this time), which instance i'm sure will bring me more comments to write on this blog, hehehe. Ok ok ok... I promise to stop myself next time. But this time, please allow me to say:

1) I pity Emma Watson's (Hermione) agent. After showing such promise in the last three HP vehicles, she disappointed big time in this fourth. In the previous offerings she appeared to have the biggest potential for a wide range of feeling--she seemed the least brit among the three of them lead characters. In this movie, there were many times she overdid it. I can't help cringe at her in the last scene. I hope the next director shapes her up for HP5.

2) I missed Ralph Fiennes' nose. Where was it? Then I realize that sans nose, Ralph Fiennes does not look as handsome anymore and therefore more acceptable as the dark lord Voldemort--the dark lord will not look as dark if he were dashing. Given that I've understood and accepted within myself the absence of his aquiline appendage (did I say this correctly, Nats?), I still can't help but express disappointment over missing Ralph Fiennes' full profile. Oh, well... I guess I'll just watch The English Patient soon on DVD.

3) I wish everybody who's seen the movie has read the book. There were simply too many instances in the movie that took for granted that the viewer already read the book/s. Glaring example: Ron's tantrum. If you had not read the book, you'll definitely dismiss Ron's behavior as childish and even probably mistake it as out of character. If you have read the book, however, you would understand that Ron's feelings were borne out of a longer gestation period, more specifically, since the first book. Ron has always been the sidekick but it the movies have never shown how Ron really felt as the sidekick. Book 4 explained this in detail--Ron was generally ok wih being a sidekick but the possiblity of Harry putting his own name in the goblet of fire just to get more attention in spite of all the attention he already has was just too much for Ron to bear at the time.

4) I wanted to hate Rita Skeeter more. The movie didn't allow me to do that--Rita Skeeter was too cute, or pa-cute. She was actually portrayed "one-dimensionally". She was even comic in this movie (glasses askew as the dragon flew over her? what was that??!) whereas in the book she was downright ruthless--someone a perfectly reasonable person would probably have nor problem loving to loath. I've always hated or detested even how irresponsible the media can be (journalists, newscasters, writers, etc., etc.) and the book showed all the vile possibilities the media can have in Rita Skeeter's maneuverings. This movie made me kind of miss the chance to grit my teeth at yet another social cancer, tsk tsk. Oh well... in that case, I'll just watch ABS tonight. :-p

and lastly...

5) I just realized I have an imagination fit for Hollywood. Many many many scenes in the movie were very close to how I imagined it. The opening scene tops the bill: the slithering snake on the stairs and even the crookedness of the stairs and the greenish-greyish shade of the film were the same elements projected in my mind's screen as i read book 4. The maze outdid me though: I never imagined it could be that huge. The merpeople were as deceptive-looking as i imagined they would be. Mad-Eye Moody's mad-eye was too lego-like for me, though. I thought it should have looked more like it came out of a PGH Optha operating table, hehehe. But I really enjoyed the first task: the dragon chase. I wished for a moment that the dragon was darker and slicker, but if that had been the case, then the dragon would have looked more like a Formula One car than a dragon.

Other comments: both Victor Krum and Cedric Diggory were cuter than I thought... but what girl in her right mind would complain about that, right? Especially with Cedric Diggory: who can complain? That actor is a cutie, I have to say. The producers' casting for Cedric plus a friend's insight upon watching the movie made it clear to me now why Cedric Diggory had to die: finally, someone better-looking and better-magicking than Harry has surfaced in Hogwarts--and he's not even in Griffindor! Of course, he had to die.

Anyway, on that note (of death? how gory) I end my comments. On to another double-phased waiting game: phase 1 for the 5th movie, and phase 2 for the 7th book. But as that's not gonna happen in the next two years probably, maybe it's better if I flex my critic's muscles first for this holiday's two most awaited movies: Chicken Little (in Manila on November 30) and The Chronicles of Narnia (in Manila on January 6, I think). Till then moviebuffs!

A Worshipper's Request

Whoever is able to read this before tomorrow morning... please pray for me! I'm leading the worship singing at the 6am, 8am, 10am, and 6pm services and all the songs are pretty high but not that high so i can't use the head tone and i have to sing the high notes with a chest tone... thats pretty difficult and tiring for an alto so please please please pray that should my voice fail me, that the Lord will work through each person attending the service tomorrow and that they will not mind if my voice fails and that, no matter the state my voice is in, they will not focus on me and my failing vocal chords but instead they will focus on God and praise Him through the songs I hope to lead them to sing.

Thanks.

APMC at NCKU in TWN

Following are some pictures from the Asia Pacific Management Conference this year at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan... Here are mam glo and me with professors and other members of the editorial board... standing to my left is Prof. Cary Wang who is the person overall responsible (punong-abala) for the APMC. the other gentlemen are professors and deans from other universities participating in the conference. si mam glo ang muse, ako ang baby.

standing in front of a wall in NCKU that was part of the oldest fortress in taiwan... we're here with some professors from malaysia

waiting for passengers on a sunday morning... sorry manongs, we walk to NCKU and back to the hotel.

leaving a message to all those who might pass by the tainan train station... mam glo and i tacked these note cards in a Christmas-Tree like stand in the middle of the tainan train station which asked people to "say something nice today"... and so we did.

akala ko debut ang pinasok namin. eto na pala yung banquet ng conference, hehe. note the heart-shaped balloons on every table and the plum-covered chairs.

With the International MBA students from NCKU. Grabe I'm so bad with names! But what i remember are the countries they came from... from left: Myanmar, Myanmar, Vietnam, mam Glo and me, Taiwan, Panama.

With Dr. Andrawal from India (mam Glo, tama ba ang nilagay ko dito na pangalan nya... nakalimutan ko na eh... pakicorrect naman dito sa comments o, tutal close naman kayo eh, hehehe) during the banquet on Saturday night.

In front of a "more dignified" bicycle parking area in front of the university... mas ginagalang dito sa NCKU ang mga bisikleta.

map of National Cheng Kung University... para sa mga mahilig mawala. tulad namin... hehe, nawala kami on the first day. we took the wrong way (tabi ng highway) na medyo scary even at noontime. on the second day we knew better to take the underpass that crosses the train station.

Muntik nang masira ang araw namin ni Mam Glo dahil sa signboard na to ng APMC--hindi pantay!!! Nawawala kami sa balance. Turns out hindi lang pala kami, some ten seconds later, dumating na si Prof. Cary para iangat ang "A". Gusto ko sana sya kunan ng picture kaso nahiya ako e.

With Desiree and Ivie, International MBA students at National Cheng Kung University, Tainan. Nagulat ako nung nagtagalog sila kasi hindi sila mukhang Pinoy!! They're from DLSU -- Desiree took up accounting at nag-SGV din (mga taga-SGV talaga, gala sa buong mundo) while Ivie finished engineering.

Made In Taiwan

Welcome to Taiwan... puro signage at scooters. Wala akong maintindihan sa mga nakasulat pero makulay silang lahat. Problema nga lang medyo cloudy kaya panira ang lighting. I'm waiting for a relatively sunnier day to capture the best of the colors of Taiwan, so to speak. Ang tanong eh kelan kaya dadating yun?

express yourself through... face masks! i thought these were wallets or cellphone holders. puro face mask pala sila in different designs, colors, and textiles. kanina may nakita pa akong lime green at hot pink na synthetic leather!

assorted jade stuff in a store where they sell religious-looking things. grabe ang descriptive ko no. short lang yan for: i have no idea what this stuff is. pero medyo mahal sila at 1100NTD up each.

nahuli ko si san cai sa TV! may career pa talaga sya! although wala akong naintindihan sa pinagsasasabi nya dito! hehehe. host ata sya ng isang variety show sa taiwan... hindi ko naman pinlanong hanapin ang meteor garden people dito... nagkataon lang.

hmmm may conference kaya sa south korea para mahanap ko si luigi? :-p

two years later, nakatungo pa din at nageemote si hua ze lei. eto na ata talaga ang signature acting pose nya... forever. ay bakit ko ba inapi si vic zhou e sya ang favorite ko dito sa show na to. anyway, i caught him in this tv show called love storm on taiwan primetime TV.

si xi men naman in a different show. actually hindi ko na naaalala kung saang show ko sila nakikita dito pero basta nakita ko, kinukuhanan ko sila ng picture. proof na may career pa sila outside meteor garden.

si dao ming na lang at vaness wu ang kulang, kumpleto ko na ang aking post-meteor garden f4 sighting project dito sa taiwan (hehehe)... naku sorry na lang sa kapatid ko kasi wala na akong oras magtelevision-babad bukas.

bicycle discrimination? tingnan nyo naman kung pano apihin ang mga bisikleta dito. kung saang kanto na lang sila pinagpa-park. mukha pang babagsak na yung parking sign nila.

Pop culture is alive and kicking in Taiwan. You can see it in the clothes of young people, in their hairstyles, on their bags, on their accesories, their signboards, TV ads, etc. Parang Japan na din but to a lesser degree. This is a pop accessory store... actually bawal magpapicture pero nakuha ko na yung pic eh, e di ipopost ko na din.

mukhang drive-in movie pero it seems magkakapitbahay lang ang nanunuod ng telenovela na to sa labas ng kalye. actually, this "screening" is in the middle of a cluster of turo-turo restaurants.

Taiwanese food court under the department store in Tainan. The department store has more than floors, I believe. Hanggang 8th floor lang ang naakyat namin ni Mam Glo sa kakahanap ng toys para sa kids nya. Tinamad na kami kasi ang mamahal pa din ng stuff, meron namang mga katulad sa Pinas.

Taiwan the scooter country: where vespas are bluebloods, kymcos and yamahas dominate and bicycles are a minority group kung saang tabi-tabi na lang sila pinagpapark.

para sa mga taong mahilig magpa-"BUTY", eto ang butyshop nyo.

Alive, Alive... My Laptop Is Alive

My laptop is allllliiiiiiiveah! HEEHEE... i know i know... all that drama in the previous post for nothing. Well forgive me for being emotional but if it happened to you, what would you do di ba? The geeky guys at compuserve were able to reformat and reinstall and save some of my files. Ergo, I am back on track, virtual-life-wise. (wink, wink)

Senuti does not work on windows, though, i found out. No worries, though. Just a little fly on my ointment. I googled for similar software and i discovered ephpod. It allows transfer of music files from the laptop to the ipod without using itunes. pretty neat because the transfer rate is pretty fast.

Anyways eto lang muna update ko today. Took the MRT going home and had to wait 40 minutes on the taxicab queue at SM Makati. My back is killing me because i stood the entire time in the line carrying my bag which was unfortunately made extra heavy today because i brought my textbooks home. Kuba na ang beauty ko sa pagod so i'm sleeping early tonight.

Have sweet dreams, everyone. With my laptop safe and working, I know I will. ;-p

Is this really the end for my computer???

As i type this my laptop is croaking its way to dear life in a computer fix-it shop seven or eight shops down the hallway inside SM North's Cyberzone. I was in the middle of making my BA 191 syllabus last night when it crashed on me! The nerve of that machine! It has all my ipod files, my UP files, my reports from my master's degree, my personal folders, my presentations, my pictures... hayyyyy just thinking about it is sapping the life ouf ot me.

My computer is now dead. The question is: can it rise up again? I went to CompuServe at around 1pm this afternoon and the guy there said he'll try to recover the files he can recover and reinstall my Windows XP at around 4pm. On the third hour, will my laptop will rise again? Well it's 4:35pm now as I type this and the reason I'm in this netopia and on the internet is precisely because my laptop is still dead. It sits lifeless on the glass counter at the shop while its innards (aka: the hard disk) is being resuscitated by the techie guys behind the cubicle wall. Had it been already alive i would have been on my merry way in a taxicab (my car, the other non-working machine in my life, is still being fixed at Honda, by the way) to makati to meet my dad.

Had to pay P1800 for the "recovery" operation (read: just to get my files back). I told ate abbie earlier (she was with me in the afternoon, doing her part in commiseration--a friend, indeed) that this is the cost of being lazy. Had i been masipag enough to regularly burn CD's as back-up of my files, i wouldn't have batted an eyelash even if my computer went up in smoke in front of me. Okay, so that's stretching it. What i meant to say was, i wouldn't be worried if my laptop had crashed because i would still have backup files of everything on the hard disk.

BUT every cloud has a silver lining. At 3pm thereabouts today, i realized i have yet another problem. How was i to transfer 8.9 GIG worth of MP4 files from my ipod back to the laptop (assuming it comes to life, of course)? Found the answer while walking through the same mall i'm in now. A nifty site the Apple store guy told me about today: it's called senuti, or, er... itunes spelled backwards. (duh, brilliant huh?) haven't tried it but he promises restoring my ipod-based mp4's to my resuscitated laptop will be tsiken once i use this. Hope i could get to try it today. I'm going back at 530pm to take a look at the laptop. I really really REALLY hope i get it tonight. i have class tomorrow!!! cross yer fingers and all other extremities for me, will ya?

An EK-y Day

friday is enchanted kingdom day!! was invited to go with nats' kapatids, ging, tj, and aaron. i brought dianne with me--wanted to bring pia along but she went to tagaytay yesterday with her classmates from DLSU. aaron and tj picked us up at our house and we met up with ging, her bf ambet, and their two other cousins, tambo and tonton, at EK na. this pic shows dianne and ging sa pila sa entrance. seems half of the south metro manila population and their mothers was there too.

anchors away... the pinakasulit na ride at EK, in my opinion, that is.

emote na emote ang sister ko sa anchors away, hehehe! pero sa umpisa lang yan, after a few more swooshes, tinanggal na nya mga kamay nya sa mukha nya... but look at me! cool na cool :-p hehe kunyari lang yan! notice na hindi ako bumibitaw sa railing at sa sides!

still smiling and DRY while waiting for our turn at the rio grande ride... er, nanunuod din kami ng "the perfect man" sa portable dvd. (secret lang to ha, pero kinilig si TJ sa movie, hehehe.)

as predicted, got real wet at the rio grande river rapids ride. lahat naman kami nabasa, ha. ako nga lang ang biggest casualty. we're by the orillaza truck (may pangalan ba ang pick-up nyo, nats?) at the parking lot. kain muna ng merienda...

change costume na! was already cold because of my wet clothes. it seems that on account of my weak health, i'm not cut out to enter wet t-shirt contests. what a loss to mankind. :-p

sa wakas kumain na din kami...

a carnival can never be complete without a fire-eating, fire-breathing, er... guy na nakabahag na mukhang hator sa enkantadia... sorry ha the pic is blurred, there were too many people crowding around me when i took this

the wheel of fate at EK... we think the top of this ferris wheel is the highest point in all of santa rosa, laguna. or maybe it's the peak of the space shuttle? anyway who knows? basta masaya sa tuktok!

hindi kasya 8 sa isang "cup" so dianne had to go with the boys... medyo nag-semi-panic sya nung una pero in the end, cool pa din.

my first time on the ferris wheel... ganito pala ang feeling

aaron and ambet nagpapaka-"bwave"

view of the "tsubibo" from the inside

aaron: first time nyo sa enchanted kingdom?